Virtual Machine (VM) methods are one of the newer "buzz words" and lots of people are using them. VM methods are available on all the major platforms, including some of the specialty "Industrial Strength" ones that we mortal seldom hear of. Where there's a real requirement, and VM methods can be set up, tested, implemented, and professionally maintained, they're proving "useful" in quite a few places.

With Mac, so far as I've seen, you can run a VM to have Windows "runable" on the Mac machine; but it's closer to a multi-boot setup than to what the big boys talk about, since you can only have one OS at a time running. For the big boys, VM means running another OS in a VM within and at the same time as the "principal OS" that you're using.

I don't pay enough attention to 'Nix developments to know how common simultaneous virtualization may be, especially among individual users. Vista claims it, but "it's not in the version you bought so you need to $u$p$g$r$a$d4e$ to ...."

John